Schengen as a European criminal justice instrument – the power of evaluation

The Schengen agreement, signed in 1985, is considered pivotal to European integration project, as it is designed to support the free movement of persons and cross-border mobility by the removal of internal border checks. By making movement across internal borders in Europe easier, the agreement is assumed to promote the use of the four freedoms and thus provide citizens and businesses with new opportunities to pursue with positive economic externalities. This chapter aims to unpack the development of Schengen by seeing evaluation and monitoring mechanisms as a form of power. It looks at evaluation as a governance instrument shaping the construction of Schengen as a criminal justice and security area. Taking the case of Schengen evaluation of Norway as its point of departure, the chapter explores how Norwegian police officers perceive and navigate the mechanism which enables a form of community of practice, and how they view the move towards tighter control by the European Commission in the evaluation process.